Mystery of The Top Sellers

February 10, 2006 1:25 PM

Amazon's "Top Selling Videos" Here's a mystery: Amazon has a page showing their top selling VHS videos. It is "updated hourly." Before you look at what the top sellers are, take a guess. I doubt that anyone would think that the 1994 Richard Simmons "Sweating to the Oldies" video would be listed as No. 1 -- particularly in view of the fact that it is described as being "unavailable." The others in the top 10 are also interesting: #3 is the 1945 black and white "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". Would you guess that #7 is "Fatso", a 1993 comedy starring Dom DeLuise? I may be wrong but I suspect that Amazon's ratings are not accurate. Now I wonder about their book ratings . . .
posted by AJ (24 comments total)

Thanks for this vital information.
posted by gagglezoomer at 1:28 PM on February 10, 2006

You'll notice that all the items on this list appear available as used items. I suspect that since VHS isn't bought new that much anymore, the used sales market has unusual influence over the ranking.
posted by nomisxid at 1:31 PM on February 10, 2006

Wow. Matt will really rake it in with this post. *sigh*
posted by delmoi at 1:31 PM on February 10, 2006

WHAT?! How could Mrs. Doubtfire get number nine?!
That movie is at least top five material.
I am writing a stern letter.
posted by zonkout at 1:32 PM on February 10, 2006

The list is updated hourly. I think that means it looks at what was bought today, updated through the last hour, which is not the same as the all-time sales list. For example, the detail for "Sweating to the Oldies" says it was Number 8 yesterday.
posted by notmtwain at 1:35 PM on February 10, 2006

You know, that number two seller, Shirley Valentine, I'd never heard of it, but it turns out I've seen it -- the opening scene (at least as they describe it on imdb) is one of those bizarre bits of pop-cultural flotsam and jetsam that got stuck in my head probably in 1989 when I was 7. Every so often ever since then bits and pieces of that scene would flit into my head, and I'd somewhat disinterestedly wonder where the hell it had come from. Now I know. I feel like I'm on the threshold of unlocking some of the deepest mysteriesof my own consciousness. Thank you Amazon, and thank you AJ.
posted by jrb223 at 1:36 PM on February 10, 2006

I am always delighted to assist in the unlocking of deep mysteries of anyone's consciousness. Soon I will work on my own . . . :)
posted by AJ at 1:38 PM on February 10, 2006

Is this really a mystery? And if so, wouldn't it have made a more responsible and interesting post if you had delved into the mystery, AJ, and attempted to clear it all up for us?
posted by chudmonkey at 1:49 PM on February 10, 2006

You know, Richard Simmons IS #1 in my book. So, this is strangely applicable!
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 1:59 PM on February 10, 2006

Who buys vhs anymore anyway? Old fat people, maybe.
posted by crunchland at 2:03 PM on February 10, 2006

Wait, I don't get it. So, it's like a DVD, but in a box?
posted by pompomtom at 2:06 PM on February 10, 2006

Freedom isn't free, people.
posted by hatchetjack at 2:09 PM on February 10, 2006

Well I actually purchased a copy of a Tree Grows In Brooklyn 5 weeks ago from Amazon.
posted by AMWKE at 2:12 PM on February 10, 2006

talk about a blast from the past...
posted by j-urb at 2:31 PM on February 10, 2006

Fatso is from the early 80s , not 1993.
Yeah I know, That still does not explain why people would seek it out.
posted by Liquidwolf at 2:38 PM on February 10, 2006

Best o' Teh Intraweb.
posted by AspectRatio at 3:02 PM on February 10, 2006

Never misunderestimate the appeal of Richard Simmons... that boy is a genius. Or something.
posted by spilon at 3:34 PM on February 10, 2006

Hey, who is most likely to not have a DVD player by now?

Old people and lazy people.

There you go.
posted by davejay at 5:05 PM on February 10, 2006

DVD top sellers makes a lot more sense.

Now, an interesting product category is Early Adopter -- here's video.
posted by dhartung at 6:38 PM on February 10, 2006

I'm assuming it wouldn't take many copies to get to the top of the VHS list.
posted by ArsncHeart at 6:56 PM on February 10, 2006

Customers who bought this video also bought:

Sweatin' To The Oldies 2 VHS
Richard Simmons Sweatin' to the Oldies 3 VHS
Sweatin to the Oldies 2 VHS
Richard Simmons - Disco Sweat VHS
Richard Simmons - Dance Your Pants Off! VHS
posted by R. Mutt at 6:35 AM on February 11, 2006

What the hell is VHS?
posted by Mick at 9:33 AM on February 11, 2006

If I were to buy a Richard Simmons tape, it would be Sweatin' to the Oldies.

Probably most pre-DVD Simmons videos are not available on DVD.

I could stand to lose some weight. I bet some other USians could, too.

Oldies make me want to dance. Richard Simmons makes me smile.

My mom owns Sweatin' to the Oldies, and she only just got a DVD player about a year ago, as a gift--maybe other American overweight oldies fans are a little late to the DVD party, too.

It's not all that surprising.
posted by lampoil at 9:37 PM on February 11, 2006

This has to be linked to the "top 5 videos" (or possibly "bestselling videos") list that ran on the front page of IMDB (owned by Amazon) for at least a year 2004/5... it's gone these days and I hadn't noticed its disappearance so my dates are hopelessly inaccurate. Blockbusters and the latest releases did not show their faces on this list. Instead the top item, day after day, month after month, was "Bear in the Big Blue House: Potty-Training with Bear".
posted by Hogshead at 3:25 PM on February 12, 2006